SS Quah's Anything Goes: Philip and Penang Free School

Some people may still remember the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Penang in 1972. When they arrived on board the Britannia at Swettenham Pier on 8 March, they were whisked away to visit the Supreme Court building and the newly constructed Dewan Sri Pinang. During their brief 11-hour stay in Penang, the royal couple were also taken to Penang Hill, Batu Ferringhi and the Botanic Gardens. I remember being one of the people lining Dato Kramat Road to try and get a glimpse of the famous couple but the motorcade went by so fast. I had hoped that I had seen them, but maybe not!

What is lesser known is that on 31 October 1956, Philip had made an even shorter, six hour-long whirlwind visit of Penang as part of his tour of the Commonwealth countries in the Far East, including Australia and New Zealand. In this trip, he was not accompanied by his wife. He was supposed to visit Singapore but that part of his itinerary was cancelled following some riots there earlier. However, his visit to Malaya proceeded as scheduled and thereby, chalked up a milestone in the history of Penang Free School.

In the Penang Free School Magazine of 1957, it was written that a police escort rumbled into the school grounds with Philip's Rolls Royce and a few other cars following hard on their heels. Philip, Sir Donald MacGillivray (the British High Commissioner) and RP Bingham (the Resident Commissioner in Penang) together with some unobtrusive plain clothes men emerged from the cars. To everyone's warm approbation, Philip was a most cheerful personality, although attired in sombre blue.

The headmaster then was JE Tod. After their arrival was recorded in the Distinguished Visitors Book, they proceeded to the school field where Philip planted a casuarina sapling near the flagstaff. He then walked up to the assembled masters and had a brief chat with them. As he was leaving the school field, the School Captain led the School in three rousing cheers.

The school magazine added: "Turning back, the Duke waved and then noticed some English ladies and gentlemen who were standing near the parapet of the first floor of the school building. Thereupon, the Prince smiled at them and upon his waving his hand again, a lady fell off her chair."

So what has happened to this casuarina sapling? Unfortunately, it did not survive and there is no longer any trace of it on the school field. In the meantime, below are some illustrations of Philip's visit to the school. (Note: This story originally appeared in my other blog, https://activeknights.blogspot.com but by some inexplicable reason, facebook had flagged it as inappropriate and not allowed it on their platform.)